Oil pumping apparatus and method



BY v

#4 ATTORNEY.

Aug. 6, 1940.- s.. oLssoN CII.:` PUMPING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Feb.- 12, '193e ST EAM Patented Aust, 1940- v I l 2,210,123,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 2,210,123 l on. PUMPING APPARATUS AND METHOD Bengt olsson, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application February 12, 1938, Serial No. 190,143

9 Claims. (Cl. 10S- 5) This invention relates to an air lift system at a distance of about 25 ft. from said intake which is peculiarly adapted for the transfer of end. liquids from one receptacle over a high elevation The said steam booster comprises an elongated to another receptacle and has for its principal outlet nozzle or reducer member II which is objects the provision of a novel method, as well as coupled by means of a union I 2 to an abbreviated 5. a simple, compact and durable apparatus for acintake nozzle I3. Said member II preferably has complishing such purpose. 1 aninternal diameter of` about 3" adjacent its Heretofore as I am well aware, it has been prolower end and the abbreviated intake nozzle has posed, as set forth in the Pohle Patents No. an internal diameter of 4 at its intake end and lo 338,295, 347,196 and 487,639 t0 employ an air fan internal diameter of 3" at its discharge end. lo

lift wherein a compressed fluid, such as air 'or Aspacerring I4 serves to form an annular passage steam is introduced into the intake end of the I5 between the inner face of the lower end of the delivery pipe or at different points alo'lg a veroutlet nozzle. II and the outer face of the upper tical leg of the same for the purpose of raising end of the intake nozzle I3,which passage can be 15 l5 ployment of the air lift principle for the purpose of a steam supply line I8 is threaded into said 35 apparatus.

Water, petroleum oil,l sewage and the like to a regulated t0 any predetermined Width, the Seme relatively great elevation as compared -with that Preferably being ebOllt ile" t0 ras". Clearance Or obtainable by means of avacuum pump, unwidth, the latter corresponding in cross-sectional assisted by an air lift, such liquid being conveyed area. to about 01 SQ 0f the CrSS-Seeiion 0f thru the delivery pipe either in the form of a the 3" bore of said booster or some 15% ofthe 20 column of intimately commingled air and water, cross-sectional area of the 4 hose to which it is 2@ the former being present in the form of small attached.` As shown, said union has a tapped bubbles, or else in the form of a column comaperture I'G which opens into an annular Champosed 0f alternate layers of air and liquid. Acber I1 which surrounds the nozzle I3 and is in cordingly I do not broadly claim herein the emcommunication with said aperture I5. Acoupline of the transfer of liquid from one receptacle to tapped aperture lIi-v another. An elbow 20 is interposed in the hose IllV at a My invention is fully disclosed in the following Short distance from its point `of discharge into the detailed specification and drawing forming apart top of a reliever member 2|, which latter (see :lo thereof in which latter y Fig. 3) comprises a housing having a central 3@ Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved pumpsleeve portion 22 that is in permanent communi# ing apparatus showing the same in position on a cation with the hose I0 and is adapted to disslop tank .adjacent a marine vessel, the double charge into 'the main chamber of said reliever, bottoms of' lwhich are being cleaned with such which latter has a converging 10015120111 Dertien that is tapped, as designated by the numeral 24, 35 Figure 2 is a detailed vertical section of the to receive a conduit Illa which in turn constitutes booster employed in said apparatus, and a continuation, in eiTect, of the delivery hose I0. Fig. 3 is a detailed vertical section, partly in An aperture 25, formed in the lateral wall o f elevation of thereliever element taken on the the reliever, serves as a discharge outlet for air line 3-3 of Fig. 1. and steam that collects in the top of said main 45 Referring to the drawing and the construction chamber of the reliever member. A relief valve shown therein, the reference numeral I desig-l 26 is mounted on the wall of said reliever memnates the hull of an oil-burning marine vessel, ber and ism-permanent communication with the 2 the fuel ol tanks inthe double bottom thereof, interior thereof. Said relief Valve, in practice, 3 the deck, 4 the hatch opening and 5 the rail of is set to relievethe vacuum should the same tend 45 said hull. Alongside the vessel a slop barge 6 is to exceed the optimum vacuum desired ln said moored. receptacle. A hose '21, which is 'connected to One leg of a delivery hose I0 is' suspended withsaid .discharge aperture 25, serves to conduct in the vessel, the same passing up through the either mixed air and steam or else when no air 50 hatch and over the rail 5 to the pumping equiphas .been admitted, then steam alone from the 50 ment, hereinafter described, mounted on' said' chamber Ato an air pump 28 preferably of the barge. A steam booster or ejectornozzle is insteam ejector type from which such gas or gases terposed in the delivery hose I0 at a point distant are discharged into pipe 29 and thence delivered from the intake end thereof, and preferably beeither into the said slop .tank or into a separate 55 tween the rst and second lengths of hose, i. e. receptacle. A valve-controlled steam line I 8 55 serves to supply steam to the said ejector pump drawn into the pump from the conduit Illa into the slop tank of the barge 6.

My improved method of operation, unlike the high vacuum method disclosed in Patents Nos. 1,405,173 and 1,480,482, does not primarily depend for its operation upon the creation of a high vacuum of 25" to 28" of mercury in an overside receptacle for the purpose of creating an inrush of air at high velocity of some 800 ft. per second into the intake nozzlel but, on the contrary, my method of operation, being primarily due to the push-and-pull action of the steam booster inter- ,nosed in the. intake line, will operate effectively with even an extremely low vacuum existing in the reliever 2| during the actual pumping operation, for example but about to 12" of mercury.

When a Vacuum of 10 to 12" of mercury is i maintained in the reliever 2|, which may be appropriately termed a vacuum separator chamber, the maximum temperature of the saturated steam discharging from the line into the reliever will be well below 212 F., the temperature of saturated steam at atmospheric pressure as will be apparent by reference to any accepted steam table, such for example as the table appearing in the book entitled Porters Steam Engine Indicator, which work is widely accepted as standard by American engineers and from which the figures for the temperatures of saturated steam at various subatmospheric pressures were taken for the table entitled Properties of saturated steam at page 663 of Kents Mechanical Engineers Pocket- Book published by John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1910. As will be apparent by reference to said table Properties of saturated steam, the temperature of saturated steam at sub-atmospheric pressures ranging from 10 to 12" of mercury will be even less than 193.2 F., which latter temperature is that of steam under a vacuum of 9.56" of mercury.

When the operation is conducted with the intake nozzle completely submerged in the sludge,

it has been found that the amount of sludge pumped is at least 1/3 to IA; greater than if the nozzle is but partially submerged in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

Furthermore, in actual operation, with the relief valve 26 set to relieve at a pressure of 12" of mercury, and when introducing steam at a pressure of about 80 lbs. per square inch at the booster, and with the intake nozzle but partially submerged as indicated in Fig. l, there will be 1 but about 3" to 6" of vacuum immediately below the booster and at a point adjacent, but above,

the booster the conditions in the system will fluctuate from a vacuum of between 21/2" and 4" ofv mercury to an occasional pressure of 5 lbs.

though usually at this latter point in the line, the vacuum is fairly steady around 2% of mercury throughout the pumping operation. This is in contrast to a vacuum well in excess of'20" of mercury in those cases where a Vacuum of 28" l is pulled on the overside receptacle and airis bein'g from 45 ft. to 50 ft. or more.

admitted in small quantities at the intake nozzle.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, if the ring aperture l5 is of a size equal to 25% of the cross-section ofthe 3 bore of the booster, then if the steam pressure at the point of entrance into this aperture is 80 lbs., the sludge which has been drawn into the booster by the suction induced by the forwardly projected steam current, will be pushed forward at this point with a force of lbs. or double the effective force, measured in pounds, of a Vacuum of 20 and which latter is about the maximum vacuum it is possible to create in the intake nozzle of a transmission line where air is being simultaneously admitted into the intake nozzle of such line in the manner customarily employed in the aforesaid high vacuum method of operation.

In those cases where it is impossible to completely submerge the intake nozzle, due to the lack of depth of the liquid sludge in the tanks which are being cleaned, itis, of course, necessary to admit air to the intake nozzle along with the sludge, but owing to the adaptability of my process to either situation, the pumping operation will proceed smoothly upon the admission of the air, though less efiiciently than when no air at all is admitted to the intake nozzle.

My-improved system of pumping sludge and other liquids is ideally adapted for removing oil sludge from the double bottoms of oil-burning marine vessels which operations frequently require that -the pumped sludge be elevated to heights much in excess of 34 feet, the maximum lift by straight suction, these lifts frequently being Furthermore, by inerposing in the line additional boosters above the position of the booster shown in Fig. 1, say at intervals of ft., it is possible to elevate the pumped sludge to much greater heights, say 100 or more feet. Likewise, my improved system s especially adapted for removing the oil residuum from refinery tanks located near but not necessarily at the water front, because the force pump 32 employed renders it possible to convey the pumped material a thousand feet or so, as is often required, in order to deliver it to a slop barge in the neighboring harbor, whereas if such pump were not employed, it would be necessary to have the slop tank in close proximity to and considerably below the reliever 2| into which latterA the sludge would be primarily delivered from such storage tank.

The function of the conduit 30 and clapper valve 3| is to insure that substantially the same sub-atmospheric pressure will normally exist in the low side of the pump 32 at the moment of the commencement of the suction impulse as exists in the receptacley 2| and consequently the maximum suction effect of the pump can be realized and the material entering the receptacle 2| through the sleeve 22 will be delivered primarily by gravity through the conduit Illa and into the low side of the pump from which it passes to the high side of the pump and is thence discharged through the outlet conduit 33 in the well known manner. Should, however, the pressure in the receptacle 2| for any reason increase beyond that existing in the low side of the pump, then the clapper valve- 3| will close during the period that such excess pressure continues to exist in the receptacle 2| and consequently the pumped sludge will still continue to flow, due to gravity, into the conduit Illa and thence to the low side of the pump 32 while at the same time no sludge will be permitted to pass through the clap- Der valve to the low side of the pump.

My method comprises essentially a'. piston and bubble form of transmission, since ordinarily the vacuum existing at the intake end of the transmission line is so low, being but about 3" to 6" of mercury, that the sludge material enters the same in the form of a wave accompanied by a substantial volume of air and, as this mass of sludge and air passes the ring aperture of the booster, the steam will be momentarily blocked from passage into the transmission line vuntil suillcient pressure is developed behind the steam to cause it to cut through the passing column of sludge. Thereupon the pressure of the steam behind the sludge will cause the consolidation of the sludge in advance thereof into a soliciA piston of liquid sludge and the steam and air in the line will pump 2B, together with the air which is admixed therewith, is materially less than the amount of steam introduced through the booster into the transmission line. The maintenance of. the moderate vacuum at the discharge end of the transmission line serves to minimize condensationin the line, thereby conserving the propelling eflip ciency of the jet, besides relieving the head pressure in the line and thereby facilitating the transmission of the pumped material therethrough.

Furthermore, as previously stated, even when there is no air admitted through the intake end during the operation of the apparatus, the pumping rate is considerably increased as compared with that obtainable by any method wherein the transmission is in the form of an air emulsion. Also when operating without the admission of any air at all into the intake nozzle, as is the case whenthe same is completely submerged in the liquid being pumped, it is possible, due to the high-pressure and the relatively large volume of the steam jet introduced into the booster, to

elevate the pumped viscous liquid toa. height of 50 or more feet if desired or greatly in excess of 34 feet, which latter is the m mum height to which water can be lifted by straight suction and this accomplishment of itself clearly shows that form of transmission in my improved method of operation constitutes essentially a bubble and piston" form of transmission, as distinguished from the well known emulsion or spray form of transmission. f

Myimproved method can be carried out inl an apparatus which is remarkably simple and cheap to construct and which furthermore can be easily transported on a barge or truck.

The subject matter claimed herein is in general substantially shown and claimed in my abandoned application No. 41,611 flled Sept. 21, 1935.

The term ,"air-lift as employed in the claims is used in a generic sense to include a column of liquid levitated or lightened by bubbles of air or other gas, including dry steam, irrespective of the size of such gas bubbles. y l

The term moderate as employed in the claims toiqualify the degree of vacuum, is to be understood as being used in its ordinary sense (see Standard Dictionary or any other dictionary) and refers to a vacuum less than an extreme or high" vacuum such as required in the performance of the `Wheeler method claimed in the Wheeler Patent No. 1,405,173 and of which the example thereof given in such patent represents the equivalent of 25" to 28" of mercury and in no event is such term moderate vacuumto be understood as referring to a vacuum represented by more than 20" of mercury, which latter would represent twothirds of a perfect vacuum.

Various changes in the details of the apparatus and of the method of operation set forth herein may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as embraced within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim and desire to obtain by United States Letters Patent is:

l. In a pumping apparatus for viscous material, the combination comprising a transmission line, vacuum-creating means connected tothe end of said line adjacent the discharge end thereof,a substantially unobstructed steam jet interposed at an intermediate point in the line, separator means for separately discharging the pumped viscous material from the gaseous material transmitted through the line, including a force pumpconnected to the discharge end of the transmission line at a level below said separator means and means for substantially equal` izlng the pressure in the low-side -of said pump and the pressure in said separator means for minimizing any obstruction to the gravity ow of ber, having a plurality of outlets connected to the transmission line adjacent its discharge end, one of said outlets being connected to the aforesaid vacuum creating means and another of said outlets being positioned at a lower level than the first outlet and being connectedfto said force pump and means for substantially equalizing-the f pressure in the separator and in the low-side of said force pump to thereby facilitate the gravity flow of the pumped viscous material from the separator to the force pump.

3. In a pumping apparatus, the combination mission line, which chamber serves to separate the gaseous and liquid materials from each other, and means in communication with such separator chamber for forcibly discharging the separated liquid material into the atmosphere.

4. In a pumping apparatus, the combination comprising a transmission line havinr an intake leg anda. discharge leg, vacuum creating means in communication with the discharge end thereof,

means for admitting an annular, high pressureuid jet into the intake leg of the line for develop-l ing a moderate vacuum in the intake end ofthe line in order to suck the materials to be pumped y through said intake and into said jet, a separator chamber in communication both with said vacuum creating means and with the discharge end of said transmission line, which chamber serves to separate'the gaseous and liquid materials from' each other, means in communication with such separator chamber for forcibly discharging the separated liquid material into the atmosphere, including a suction pump, and means for equalizing the pressures in the suction side ofthe pump and said separator chamber.

5. The continuous method of pumping viscous material, which comprises maintaining the intake orice `of the intake leg of a transmission line in contact with Viscous material to be pumped, while admitting a high pressure steam jet into said intak leg at a pointbeyondits intake end in the direction of flow to Athereby create suicie'nt vacuum in such intake end to rapidly suck the viscous material thereinto, then continuously effecting the transmission ofsaid viscous material through the line and into a separator chamber immediately associated with the discharge end of said line While continually maintaining a moderate vacuum pressure in such chamber to minimize condensation in the line and conserve the propelling efliciency of such jet, effecting the gravity separation in such chamber of the pumped viscous material from the pumped gaseous material and continually removing the separated gaseous material from the upper portion of said chamber while simultaneously removing the separated viscous material from the lower portion thereof.

6. The continuous method of pumping viscous material to an elevation, which comprises partially submerging the intake end of a transmission line in viscous material to be pumped, while admitting a high pressure steam jet into said line beyond said intake end in the direction of ow, to thereby create suicient vacuum in such intake end to rapidly suck viscous material and air thereinto, then continuously effecting the transmission of viscous materiaLair and steam through the transmission line and into a chamber of substantially greater cross-section than that of said transmission line while continually maintainig a moderate vacuum pressure in said chamber to minimize condensation in the line and conserve the propelling eiiiciency of such jet, effecting the gravityseparation in such chamber of the pumped viscous material from the pumped gaseous material and continuously removing the separatedgaseous material from the upper portion of said chamber While simultaneously removing the separated viscous .material from the lowerportion thereof.

'7. The continuous method of pumping viscous material, which comprises continuously admitting an annular high pressure steam jet into a transmission line at a lpoint beyond the intake end thereof in the direction of flow and creating an uninterrupted moderate vacuum at the intake end while maintaining the intake orifice thereof conipletely submerged in viscous material to be- .taneously creating a moderate vacuum at the discharge'end of said transmission line so as to minimize condensation in the line and to conserve the propelling efiiciency of such jet and to thereby effect the gaseous-bubble-and-liquid-piston transmission of such viscous material through said line, delivering the viscous material so transmitted through the line into a vacuum separator chamber which is in permanent communication with the suction line and, While maintaining a moderate vacuum therein, continuously effecting the gravity separation of the pumped viscous material from the pumped gaseous material while simultaneously forcibly and separately discharging said pumped viscous and gaseous material from said vacuum chamber.

8. In a pumping apparatus, the combination comprising a transmission line, means for delivering a steam jet into said transmission line at a location adjacent, but not at, the intake orice thereof, a vacuum separator adjacent the discharge end of the transmission line and into which said line delivers material conveyed therethrough a force pump associated with said separator for removing the separated liquid therefrom, means for separately withdrawing gaseous material from said separator and equalizing means, including a conduit having a check valve -interposed therein, for substantially equalizing the absolute pressure in the upper end of the separator chamber and the suction side of the force pump at the moment of and just prior to the commencement of the suction stroke of the Pump- 9. 'Ihe continuous method of pumping viscous material, which comprises continuously admitting an annular high pressure .steam jet into a transmission line at a point beyond the intake L end thereof in the direction of flow and creating an uninterrupted moderate vacuum at the intake end while maintaining the intake orice thereof in contact with viscous material to be pumped, conveying the pumped viscous and gaseous material through said transmission line and into a separator chamber adjacent the discharge end f of said transmission line in which a moderate vacuum is being continuously maintained, effecting the gravity separation in said chamber o f the transmitted viscous and gaseous material, withdrawing the separated Viscous material from the drawing the pumped gaseous material from the upper portion of said separator chamber.

BENGT OLSSON. 

